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Vandegrift volleyball survives Lake Travis, rowdy crowd for 5-set win

Vandegrift volleyball survives Lake Travis, rowdy crowd for 5-set win

Vandergrift Vipers Ryan Palmieri (15) taps the ball over Cavalier defenders during the fourth set at the volleyball game between the Lake Travis Cavaliers and the Vandergrift Vipers at Lake Travis October 3, 2017. JOHN GUTIERREZ / FOR AMERICAN STATESMAN

LAKEWAY

As the crowd at Lake Travis High School grew rowdier with each set in a grueling District 25-6A match, the Vandegrift players tuned out the noise and turned up the pressure on the Cavs.

After all, they hadn’t spent an hour at the previous day’s practice enduring a cacophonous playlist compiled by head coach Melissa Southall for nothing.

“Our coach is so smart,” said Vandegrift senior Ryan Palmieri after the Vipers secured a 23-25, 25-20, 24-26, 25-19, 15-11 win. “The whole time we prepared for Lake Travis, she had all this chaos going on in practice. We know how rowdy and, basically, how unsportsmanlike their (Lake Travis’s) crowd is. We were ready.”

Ironically, the Vipers won all three sets in which they were in front of a small but vociferous student section that slammed seats with each Vandegrift serve while standing on the gym floor just inches behind the players. At one point, a spare volleyball even emerged from the student section and bounced onto the court.

But nothing on Oct. 3 phased the Vipers, who had to survive everything from Skrillax to an hour-long soundtrack of soccer chants that Southall had found on YouTube.

“We have music at our practices, but my girls can get distracted and start dancing and stuff,” said Southall, who is in her first season as head coach. “So, I just blared that (soccer crowd) the entire time Monday. They were so mad at me, but I asked them at the end of the match if they were still mad. They all said ‘No, Coach!’ They knew what we were trying to do.”

Vandegrift (34-6 overall, 5-2 district) had to battle more than the crowd and a talented Lake Travis (25-13, 4-3) roster. In a taut first set, the Vipers evened the score at 20-20 on a kill by Jules Mokry. However, the scorekeeper erroneously awarded a point to the Lake Travis, giving the Cavs a 21-19 lead.

Although Southall and her staff vociferously protested, the score stood and the Cavs won the set on a thunderous kill from Cassidy Ehrie.

Ehrie, a junior middle blocker, also accounted for set point in the third when she blocked Vandegrift’s Annie Stadhaus.

“It was frustrating, because we showed the (official) where the score was wrong, but he wouldn’t even listen or look at the book,” Southall said. “Regardless of what we have, he said it’s what’s in the official book that counts, and that’s the way it goes.”

For Lake Travis, senior Skylar Besch had a stellar game at setter with 45 assists and 10 kills. Her favorite target was Kristen Kleymeyer, a high-flying junior outside hitter who had 16 kills.

“We executed well in our offense but we just couldn’t shut down No. 15 (Palmieri) on the outside,” Lake Travis coach Brandace Boren said. “We were prepared, they were prepared. When you go out there against a team that’s well-coached and with good ball-control, that just prepares us for a long run in the playoffs.”

Speaking of the postseason, the win gave Vandegrift sole possession of third place in a tightly contested district race. Westlake and Hays are tied in the loss column with one setback apiece, while Vandegrift trails those teams by one match.

Although the top four teams in District 25-6A all look like locks for the postseason, the jockeying for playoff position carries a significant reward. Whoever finishes fourth in the district will likely face top-ranked San Antonio Reagan in the first round.